Enjoy :)
December 4, 2011
Dear Baby Rasler,
Well, I’m sorry to say after 21 weeks this is my first letter that I’ve written to you. After losing your sibling the last time around, it has just been difficult to put myself out there again and risk the pain of putting out my emotions. But here’s the thing, I feel compelled to write to you because I want you to know what I’m thinking before you were even born. Isn’t that a crazy thought? You don’t even know you are alive, but yet, you have been an answered prayer for many, a blessing, and a sign of God’s redemption and have been prayed for daily. It’s got to feel weird to know that.
I sit here typing away with tears welling up in my eyes for so many reasons. One I’m so overwhelmed to know that I get to be your mom. That’s exciting and scary. The hard realization of responsibility that I (and your dad) have both been entrusted with is really sinking in. Somehow we have to raise you to be upright, to love the Lord, to love others, to be kind, to be bold, to be devoted and to stand against every evil in this world. That in itself is challenging, but then when you tie that in with the fact our world is constantly changing. You are not growing up in the world of your grandparents, nor even in the world of your parents, you are growing up in a world where it is even more wicked and unrighteous and by the day it’s getting worse.
But I believe you were born for this time and this generation. Your dad and I have so many hopes and dreams for you. But we focus on just a few. We pray you love the Lord with everything you have, that you love others, and that you are a strong/bold leader who will stand up against what is wrong and help direct people to the truth. I pray that you will be a fierce competitor for the things in life that matter. I pray that you will fight for what is right. I pray that as you begin school that you will stand against the pressures that exist and that you will make choices that will glorify the Lord. These are not my expectations, but the very prayer I pray for your life.
When I pray for you, I feel this burning passion in my soul to pray this way for you. I pray God’s favor will rest on your life. I pray that you will allow God to work through you to fight for His Kingdom. I can’t even begin to describe the feeling of my heart beating faster even as I type this to you. And along with those prayers I pray for you, I ask that God would be gracious in showing your dad and I, granting us wisdom, on how to instill those values in your life. Because outside of God’s grace – we won’t be able to do it!
I should let you know it was fun finding out that you were a boy, but it has given your dad and me a real desire to find the right name for you. It is so important and an amazing privilege to name another human life. I think the meanings of your dads name and my name and how we both in some ways, have really fit that direction. It is our desire to find a name that will be an inspiration and a reminder of who you are and who you were created to be.
In a world that desires to tell you who you are and who you should be, may you find yourself rooted in the truth that there is a God who loves you and who created you.
In a world that desires to deceive, may you be grounded in knowing the Truth.
In a world that exploits the lowly and mistreats the “least of these”, may you be a man who fights and boldly stands up for those people.
May you be a man who is more concerned about living for the Lord then for living for the fleshly desires of our human condition.
May you be the meaning of what a man is really supposed to be and not what the world accepts as a cheap version of one.
While I pray that you can be bold and strong, I pray that you will also have in your heart the qualities of grace, compassion and mercy.
And finally, I pray that just as Jesus did you will grow in your relationship with the Lord, with men, in stature in wisdom.
Know dear baby that I love you and I take this responsibility of being your mom seriously. Can’t wait to meet you… until then you are being prayed for daily.
Love you,
Mom
